Wire coiling apparatus

ABSTRACT

A wire coiler which brings the wire into the apparatus over a sheave mounted vertically atop the apparatus and immediately directs the wire downwardly at an acute angle to the vertical toward the outside perimeter of the stationary capstan where it travels around a second sheave. Exiting from this sheave the wire travels through a series of casting and camber control rolls and onto a third sheave from which the wire is directed tangentially onto the stationary capstan. An epicyclic gear train holds the capstan in controlled position while the upper structure of the apparatus supporting the second sheave, the casting and camber control rollers, and the third sheave rotate to place the wire on the stationary capstan. As the uppermost winds of wire force the lowermost winds of wire off the bottom of the capstan, the dropping coils of wire fall in convolutions which are successively shifting transversely with respect to each other in a circular path around the center of a container which is mounted upon a rocking support structure.

United States Patent Harold H. Dufl Jewett City, Conn. 879,855

Nov. 25, 1969 Nov. 16, 197] The Entwlstle Company Inventor Appl. No. Filed Patented Assignee WIRE COILING APPARATUS 4 Claims, 8 Drawing Figs.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS lO/ 1940 Bruestle l/l968 Kitselrnan FOREIGN PATENTS l0/i96l GreatBritain................

Primary Examiner-Stanley N. Gilreath Assistant Exam iner-Gregory A. Walters AttorneyBariow and Barlow ABSTRACT: A wire coiler which brings the wire into the apparatus over a sheave mounted vertically atop the apparatus and immediately directs the wire downwardly at an acute angle to the vertical toward the outside perimeter of the stationary capstan where it travels around a second sheave. Exiting from this sheave the wire travels through a series of casting and camber control rolls and onto a third sheave from which the wire is directed tangentially onto the stationary capstan. An epicyclic gear train holds the capstan in controlled position while the upper structure of the apparatus supporting the second sheave, the casting and camber control rollers, and the third sheave rotate to place the wire on the stationary capstan. As the uppermost winds of wire force the lowermost winds of wire off the bottom of the capstan, the dropping coils of wire fall in convolutions which are successively shifting transversely with respect to each other in a circular path around the center of a container which is mounted upon a rocking support structure.

PATENTEDuuv 16 I97! SHEET 2 [1F 4 FIG.3

ILIJI INVENTOR HAROLD H. DUFF \lli F 2 l ATTORNEYS PATENTEuunv 16 Ian SHEET 3 [IF 4 WIRE COILING APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to machines that receive wire or filament traveling in a linear path and manipulates the wire or filament into coils for packaging or storage.

One of the problems in the past in handling wire which is traveling through a wire coiler is the fact that each additional turn of the wire around pulley results in additional work hardening of the wire. Also in the case of a manufacturing operation involving producing electrical insulated wire each additional turn in the path through which the wire must travel tends to further loosen the insulation from the conductor.

Presently in industry, wire to be coiled is brought into the coiler from the top of the machine down through the bore of the vertical shah and around a sheave which directs the wire around a 90 turn and out to the outer circumference of the stationary capstan. Along the outside circumference of the drum a series of sheaves are spaced to direct the wire along a path which eventually places the wire tangentially upon the fixed capstan.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to eliminate the 90 turn necessitated by taking the wire down through the vertical shaft by immediately taking the wire from the top of the coiler directly to the series of sheaves mounted along the outside perimeter of the fixed capstan. This results in a lessening of the amount of work hardening a wire is put through and where the wire is covered by insulation the amount by which it is loosened is reduced.

Also involved in the invention is a novel approach to collecting the coils of wire as they drop from the bottom of the capstan. Although it is known in the wire coiling industry to form the wire in convolutions which are successively shifting transversely with respect to each other in a circular path, the present invention produces this result by means of a new approach to rocking the support for catching the dropping wire coils.

In the present invention the wire coiler is designed to receive wire which passes around the vertically mounted sheave at the top of the machine and to immediately direct the wire downwardly at an acute angle to the vertical to the series of sheaves mounted along the outside perimeter of the fixed capstan. After traveling over the series of sheaves along the perimeter of the capstan, the wire is placed tangentially upon the surface of the capstan. Several wraps of the wire are then made around the capstan with each additional wrap forcing the previous wraps of wire downwardly to a position where the wire falls off the capstan. The wire is then caught by a barrel or other container which is rocked below the capstan.

Another object of the invention is to provide casting and camber control rollers along the path that the wire travels. The diameter of the wire coil as it drops to its free state is controlled by moving one of the rollers in a horizontal direction and the vertical rise angle from the horizontal of the wire is controlled by moving one of the rollers in a vertical direction.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view taken through the center of the wire coiler showing its interior from the power input pulley at the top down through to the bottom of the capstan;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view showing only the lower path of the wire as it is placed on the fixed capstan,

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 33 of FIG. 2 illustrating the path along which the wire travels from the top of the coiler until it is tangentially placed on the fixed capstan;

FIG. 4 is a partial side elevational view with certain parts removed for clarity, showing a barrel for receiving the wire placed upon its rocking support structure with the nearside leg and plate removed for clarity;

FIG. 5 is a top detail view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4 illustrating the barrel rocking support structure;

FIG. 6 is a partial side elevational view to an alternative embodiment having different structure for catching the dropping wire and forming it in off center convolutions;

FIG. 7 is atop plan view looking into the takeup barrel and describing the pattern of the wire as it forms ofi' center con volutions; and

FIG. 8 is a detached top plan view of T-shaped member 212.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference to FIG. I, the vertical sheave I2 is mounted on overhanging support arms 19 extending out from support structure (not shown). The drive sheave 14 is driven by V- belts 16 connected to an external power drive. Centrally mounted in the drive sheave is drive shalt 18 which rotates in unison with the drive sheave. Also locked together with the drive sheave is the coneshaped housing 20 and the circular plate 22. Passing through these three elements is bore 24 which slopes off at an acute angle to the vertical drive shaft 18 and provides a path through which the wire W passes after it is directed around the vertical sheave 12.

It is possible for the cone-shaped housing 20 to rotate since it is joumaled in antifriction bearings 26 and 28. Supporting the bearings on the outside is a ring 30 and annular housing 32 which are attached to each other. The annular housing 32 is held stationary by its attachment to fixed supports 34. Also attached to the fixed housing 32 is sun gear 36 whose relationship in the epicyclic gear train will be described later.

Directly beneath the plate 22 is support housing 40 and it is attached thereto such that they both rotate together along with shaft 18. Mounted on a horizontal flange 41 of support housing 40 is sheave 54 inclined at such an angle that the wire W is directed tangentially onto the sheave after passing through bore 24. Also connecting plate 22 and support housing 40 is shaft 46. Mounted at the top of the shaft 40 is a planetary gear 38 which meshes with sun gear 36. Along the bottom of shaft 46 is mounted planetary gear 50 which meshes with sun gear 48. The sun gear 48 is securely mounted in fixed capstan 52 which in turn is supported in central position about shaft 18 by bearings 58,60 that engage an internal boss 53 of the capstan 52. The capstan 52 does not rotate with shaft 18 due to the epicyclic gear train.

As best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, after the wire W passes around the bottom of sheave 54 it passes through a series of casting and camber control rollers 72 mounted on platform 74 which is attached to arm 71 and then around sheave 76 whence it is directed tangentially onto the fixed capstan 52. Roller 73 is adjustable in and out in a horizontal direction to vary the diameter of the coil as it comes to rest in its freestanding state after dropping from the fixed capstan 52. The roller 75 is adjustable up and down to control the wire vertical rise angle from the horizontal in its freestanding state. The sheave 76 is canted such that the wire as directed onto the capstan will tend to force the previous wraps of wire axially downward along the slightly inwardly tapering capstan walls and the dropping of the coils of wire downwardly is controlled by the internal coil guide cylinder 56. Resilient pressure means 62 mounted on support frame 64 resiliently press the wire W against the capstan to provide proper tension on the wire between the capstan and the sheave 54.

The wire is placed under tension on the fixed capstan by the sheave 76 revolving around the outside perimeter of the capstan. As understood from the earlier description, the sheave 76, casting and camber rollers 72 and sheave 54 are all supported upon the flange 4] of support housing 40 and they revolve as a unit when the drive shaft 18 rotates. The planetary gears 38 and 50 revolve around the axis of the drive shaft 18 as it rotates and they also travel around the sun gears 36 and 48 respectively. The fact that sun gear 36 is immobile as it is fixedly mounted to the machine frame support causes the capstan to remain in fixed position by virtue of the epicyclic gear train even though it is not attached to a fixed support. The capstan 52 will support only a limited number of wraps of wire and as they fall off the capstan they are received on a stem or in a barrel in convolutions that are not concentric.

One of the structures for receiving the dropping coils of wire is seen in FIGS. 4 and 5. The receiver shown here is barrel 140 and it is positioned beneath the capstan in such a manner that a point lying at the center of the top diameter of the barrel also lies on the vertical axis passing through the center of the capstan, but such point being beneath the capstan. When using barrels of different heights, the top of the barrel is adjusted by raising or lowering the angle of the support plate 87 to place the center of the top of the barrel at its desired point on the vertical axis of the capstan. This is accomplished by elevating telescoping posts 81 in their base posts 80, the base posts 80 being mounted on horizontal support plate 1 14. The top of each telescoping post 81 is attached by a hinge pin 85 to a bracket 83 mounted on the underside of each plate 87. The barrel itself is supported atop platform 86 and the guides 88 mounted thereon prevent lateral movement of the barrel. The platform 86 has three legs 84, each of which has a ball roller 82 in the bottom of its leg. The support plates 87 are located below the legs 84 and the ball rollers describe a path 150 across the surface of each of the plates 87 when platform 86 orbits about shafts 96 and 108.

Chain 95 passes around the sprocket gear 97 mounted on shaft 96 and is connected to a power drive source, not shown, since it does not constitute part of the invention and its elimination from the drawing helps to avoid confusion in identifying the essential elements. Any of a number of possible drive mechanisms may be used to give the shaft 96 rotational movement which is transmitted to arm 94 and to the sprocket gear 230 mounted on shaft 96. The shaft 108 passes through bearing block 110 mounted on horizontal support plate 114. Attached to sprocket gear 130 is a chain 132 which engages sprocket gear 134 such that when shaft 96 is rotated, shaft 108 is similarly rotated. Shaft 96 extends through bearing block 98 also mounted on horizontal support plate 114. At the top of shaft 108 an arm 106 is attached. Mounted on the arms 94 and [06 respectively is a post 92 journaled in the bearing 93 mounted on the underside of platform 86 and a post 104 journaled in bearing 102. The bearing 102 is also mounted on the underside of the platform 86.

When the barrel is ready to be rocked and orbited, the platform is in such a tilted position that the ball rollers 82 attached to the bottom or the legs 84 are at different heights on their respective plates. As the two arms 94 and 106 are revolved, platform 86 orbits about the axis passing through shaft 96 and since the ball rollers 82 are at different heights on their respective plates 72 a rocking motion is given to platform 86 and the barrel I40 mounted thereon. What this motion does to the dropping coils of wire is shown in FIG. 7. The wire W falls into a series of convolutions which are successively shifting transversely with respect to each other in a circular path about the center of the barrel. The number of convolutions in a single layer will vary depending upon the relative speed of rotation of the platform 86 and the drive shaft 18. A look at the rocking barrel 140 from the side will show that the center point of the top diameter of the barrel remains aligned on the downwardly extending vertical axis of the capstan as the barrel revolves. This means that the bottom of the barrel is orbiting outwardly from the vertical axis. lt is as though the barrel were being held at a point centered in the surface defining the top of the barrel and that the bottom of the barrel is then swung around a path outside the circumference of the freestanding barrel.

Referring not to FIG. 6, an alternative embodiment is disclosed for coiling the dropping wire in convolutions which are successively shifting transversely with respect to each other in a circular path around a center of a container.

The coils of wire W drop from the fixed capstan as explained previously and follow a path downwardly between the internal coil guide cylinder 56 and the guide funnel 160 onto the support platform 200. Mounted on the underside of the support platform 200 is a swivel bearing 204 which is attached to the top of shaft 202. The shaft 202 extends downwardly through the T-shaped member 212, the bearing 218, the support plate 220 and engages a sprocket gear in the housing 216. The chain 214 is attached to the sprocket gear and to a power drive unit (not shown). As the shaft 202 is rotated, the T- shaped member 212 illustrated in FIG. 8 rotates and causes the rollers 210 mounted on each of the three arms 211, 213, 215 to roll over the surface of the plate support in a circular path. On the top surface of each of the radial arms is mounted a bracket 206 which supports a roller 208. The height of each of the brackets 206 is different thus causing the support platform 200 to rock as the rollers 208 at various heights revolve beneath the support platform 200 and the platform is prevented from rotating by arm 240 which engages a vertical slot in the guide 244. The rocking of the platform normally results in concentric coils of wire being formed as the wire drops from the capstan. When this rocking motion is added, the top of a container placed upon the platform is caused to describe a path oblique to and outside a perpendicular down through the center of the base of the container when the container is stationary. This motion causes the dropping coils of wire to fall in convolutions which are successively shifting transversely with respect to each other in a circular path around the center of the container.

It is to be realized that while a barrel was used to illustrate one embodiment and a stem 230 used to illustrate the other that either may be used interchangeably in either embodiment as may other types of packages be used interchangeably.

I claim:

1. A wire coiler comprising a vertical sheave fixedly mounted atop said wire coiler, second and third sheaves mounted on a rotatable support housing, said rotatable support housing having a vertical drive shaft passing through its center, a capstan mounted on said vertical drive shaft, wire is fed on said capstan by passing the wire around a portion of said vertical sheave and then it diverges downwardly at an acute angle to the vertical axis passing through said drive shaft and the wire next passes around said second sheave which is tilted toward the vertical axis and then around said third sheave and tangentially onto said capstan, said capstan remains stationary although mounted on the same rotating drive shaft as the rotating support housing by virtue of an epicyclic gear train connected to the capstan and also to a plate mounted on the drive shaft, said plate being fixedly attached to said support housing and rotatable therewith, means for receiving the coils of wire as they drop from the capstan and means for coiling the dropping wire in convolutions which are successively shifting transversely with respect to each other in a circular path around the center of a container.

2. A wire coiler comprising a capstan mounted on a vertical drive shaft, means for feeding wire tangentially onto said capstan to form it into coils, means for receiving the coils of wire as they drop from the capstan comprising a platform upon which any suitable package may be supported, and means for coiling the dropping wire in convolutions which are successively shitting transversely with respect to each other in a circular path around the center of a container comprising means for rocking the platform with respect to the horizontal having three legs extending downwardly from the bottom of the platform each with a ball roller in its foot and three slantedly positioned plates mounted below the three legs and upon which the ball rollers ride up and down to describe elliptical paths over each of the individual slantedly positioned plates as the platform is orbited about a vertical axis extending downwardly through the center of the capstan.

3. A wire coiler as recited in claim 2 wherein the means for rocking the platform further comprises a pair of rotating shafts, each of which having a horizontal arm mounted at their top and each with a vertical post mounted at the end of their arms, the posts being attached to the bottom of the platform such that when the shafts are rotated the platfonn is caused to orbit about said shafts.

4. A wire coiler comprising a capstan mounted on a vertical drive shaft, means for feeding wire tangentially onto said capstan to form it into coils, means for receiving the coils of wire as they drop from the capstan comprising a platform upon which any suitable package may be supported, and means for coiling the dropping wire in convolutions which are successively shifting transversely with respect to each other in a circular path around the center of a container comprising means for rocking the platform with respect to the horizontal having a shaft mounted at its top in a swivel bearing mounted on the underside of the platform at its center, a T-shaped member mounted on the shaft at the center of the T-shaped member and having three rollers each of which is mounted on a support bracket which in turn is mounted on the top side of each of the arms of the T-shaped member and the bracket varying in height such that the platform is caused to rock as the rotating shafi turns the T-shaped member with its roller supported at difi'erent heights under the platform. 

1. A wire coiler comprising a vertical sheave fixedly mounted atop said wire coiler, second and third sheaves mounted on a rotatable support housing, said rotatable support housing having a vertical drive shaft passing through iTs center, a capstan mounted on said vertical drive shaft, wire is fed on said capstan by passing the wire around a portion of said vertical sheave and then it diverges downwardly at an acute angle to the vertical axis passing through said drive shaft and the wire next passes around said second sheave which is tilted toward the vertical axis and then around said third sheave and tangentially onto said capstan, said capstan remains stationary although mounted on the same rotating drive shaft as the rotating support housing by virtue of an epicyclic gear train connected to the capstan and also to a plate mounted on the drive shaft, said plate being fixedly attached to said support housing and rotatable therewith, means for receiving the coils of wire as they drop from the capstan and means for coiling the dropping wire in convolutions which are successively shifting transversely with respect to each other in a circular path around the center of a container.
 2. A wire coiler comprising a capstan mounted on a vertical drive shaft, means for feeding wire tangentially onto said capstan to form it into coils, means for receiving the coils of wire as they drop from the capstan comprising a platform upon which any suitable package may be supported, and means for coiling the dropping wire in convolutions which are successively shifting transversely with respect to each other in a circular path around the center of a container comprising means for rocking the platform with respect to the horizontal having three legs extending downwardly from the bottom of the platform each with a ball roller in its foot and three slantedly positioned plates mounted below the three legs and upon which the ball rollers ride up and down to describe elliptical paths over each of the individual slantedly positioned plates as the platform is orbited about a vertical axis extending downwardly through the center of the capstan.
 3. A wire coiler as recited in claim 2 wherein the means for rocking the platform further comprises a pair of rotating shafts, each of which having a horizontal arm mounted at their top and each with a vertical post mounted at the end of their arms, the posts being attached to the bottom of the platform such that when the shafts are rotated the platform is caused to orbit about said shafts.
 4. A wire coiler comprising a capstan mounted on a vertical drive shaft, means for feeding wire tangentially onto said capstan to form it into coils, means for receiving the coils of wire as they drop from the capstan comprising a platform upon which any suitable package may be supported, and means for coiling the dropping wire in convolutions which are successively shifting transversely with respect to each other in a circular path around the center of a container comprising means for rocking the platform with respect to the horizontal having a shaft mounted at its top in a swivel bearing mounted on the underside of the platform at its center, a T-shaped member mounted on the shaft at the center of the T-shaped member and having three rollers each of which is mounted on a support bracket which in turn is mounted on the top side of each of the arms of the T-shaped member and the bracket varying in height such that the platform is caused to rock as the rotating shaft turns the T-shaped member with its roller supported at different heights under the platform. 